


hold on tight (interlude)

by crankybossiplier



Series: i'm a revolution [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: (that's me not charles), Charles-centric, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Interlude, M/M, Mentions of Suicidal Actions, Multi, Nobody Actually Dies, Other, POV Outsider, Polyamory, aromantic Charles Lee, but again it varies, nice job lee, non-binary Lafayette, writing this while procrastinating on writing the next one in the series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-20 22:57:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15544011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crankybossiplier/pseuds/crankybossiplier
Summary: John, Charles, Alex and Lafayette were rarely seen without each other anymore, whether it be inside of school or out. After the incident with Charles none of them were at school for almost a week, but they all returned eventually. And when they returned, they returned different. It was as if they had fought a war and survived.Nobody understood what happened - nobody really cared to ask. No students, no teachers - they just all returned like they’d never been gone. All four of them sat together at lunch now, which most thought was odd. When John had been dating Alexander and Lafayette, Charles always sat on his own, but now it was the four of them.





	hold on tight (interlude)

**Author's Note:**

> this is now a series. woooooooo go me 
> 
> if you're coming to this part, I highly recommend reading the first part, as you'll get the background info you'll need for this one!! honestly I'm very proud of the first fic in this series it took me ages to write  
> this one took me... significantly less time lmao. started on the 25/7 finished it 3/8 because I'm awful like that. this was just something that popped into my head and I wanted to write it. I'll eventually get around to writing the next proper fic in this series but for now, this is what my brain has produced. this may not make much sense or have any logic to it but i'm having a bad... while at the moment lmao end me
> 
> if you're a reader of my other fics "Brother Mine" or "Sometime, In Another Life", I'm sorry for the delays! I'll get around to doing those. if you're a reader of "Tested Again And Again"... I'm just sorry lmao.
> 
> trigger warnings at the bottom of the fic!
> 
> I hope you enjoy <3
> 
> (title from "Revolution" by The Veronicas)

John, Charles, Alex and Lafayette were rarely seen without each other anymore, whether it be inside of school or out. After the incident with Charles none of them were at school for almost a week, but they all returned eventually. And when they returned, they returned different. It was as if they had fought a war and survived.

Nobody understood what happened - nobody really cared to ask. No students, no teachers - they just all returned like they’d never been gone. All four of them sat together at lunch now, which most thought was odd. When John had been dating Alexander and Lafayette, Charles always sat on his own, but now it was the four of them.

Some thought that John had broken up with Alexander and Lafayette and was dating Charles instead, but then they saw Lafayette gazing at Charles as well as Alexander, and eventually everyone came to the same conclusion.

All four of them were with each other.

Nobody had ever really seen a relationship like theirs before - hell, John, Alexander and Lafayette as a trio had been odd enough, and most thought that John and Charles hated each other.

Although, most didn’t have a problem with it. There were a few people who didn’t like it but knew better than to say anything to their face - Charles’ glare was still as deadly as ever, and most were still scared of him.

Everybody knew what John’s father thought, though. The slightly conservative senator who ended up marrying a Puerto Rican - who’d have thought it? Those who remembered always said that Henry Laurens Sr was a good man before his wife died, and his grief had changed him. Despite his many faults, he loved Eleanor, and he loved his children, even if he’d always had a rocky relationship with his eldest son.

So nobody said anything about it - nothing to them about it, but nothing against them, either, and the four seemed glad to be left alone.

Most of the time they didn’t even act like they were dating, even though everyone knew better. They sat together, ate together, studied together and threw sarcastic remarks around. That hadn’t changed between Charles and John in the slightest, now there was just two more added in.

Once, somebody whispered to another that they didn’t think Charles was capable of affection in the slightest. The other elbowed the first in the side, shushing them.

Another thing that everyone knew was that Charles had tried to kill himself. Nobody knew how the word got around and Charles himself certainly didn’t try to address it, but everyone knew. The stories varied: some said that John had to pull Charles out of the river, others said that he tried to slash his wrists, some said he tried to OD on antidepressants or something or other. Nobody ever got it right - after all, the four of them were the only ones who knew the real story.

Another funny thing they noticed was that Charles seemed a little happier these days. Getting towards graduation, they even saw him smile a proper smile. Granted, the smile was directed at John, but it was still a smile nonetheless. It wasn’t even one of his humourless smirks or if-looks-could-kill grins, a proper smile that reached his eyes. It was the most emotion they’d seen from Charles in god knows how long.

Rumour spread that he was seeing a psychologist - once again, Charles did nothing to address the rumours, but did nothing to stop them either. If seeing a psychologist was what was helping Charles to smile like that, then nobody cared. 

Everyone noticed Charles slowly getting fitter as well - muscles filling out, carrying his shoulders properly, wearing clothes that fit him better rather than whatever he happened to pick up. He seemed more confident in himself, like he appreciated himself more. Like he had something to live for now - that was a pleasant change.

Charles never offered an answer in class again, but neither did most people. Alexander obviously being an exception, but he was an exception to most things. As was Lafayette, who got free periods during French because come on, they were already fluent. And they chose not to take Spanish, as they were still learning how the hell English worked - even the native English speakers couldn’t explain that one.

Lafayette still had the air of having run away from something, and they rarely talked about their past in France, but nowadays they had the air of running  _ to _ something as well - namely, Alexander and John and now Charles as well. They smiled the widest when looking at them, unmistakable love in their eyes

Alexander was a wildfire like always, crushing tests and leaving his classmates in the dust. Everyone had given up on trying to catch up to him, but that didn’t stop the jealousy. But they could see the desperation behind everything he did, like he was trying to prove the President wrong. Like Lafayette, he never talked about his past, and nobody tried to ask. He was an expert at dodging questions.

The four of them made an odd group, sure. but somehow, they worked. The four of them worked together in a way that nobody else could even come close to.

Graduation was the first time anyone saw them kiss another, as the four of them. Alex kissed John like he was the air he needed to breathe, when they broke apart Lafayette came up behind John and leaned down to kiss the top of his head, then turned to the side and kissed Charles’ cheek. If they noticed that a few people directed their cheering towards them, they pretended not to. They also pretended not to notice the whistling when they saw Charles properly kiss John.

The four of them were so unalike they were exactly the same, and they wouldn’t change that for the world.

Nobody would, because the four of them were going to change the world.

Like a storm, a hurricane, a fire, or a flood.

Like a revolution.

**Author's Note:**

> trigger warnings: mentions of suicide and suicidal actions (nobody actually dies), depression, past character death, slight arophobia (not really and it's for once sentence but just to be safe), and maybe??? some slight homophobia but it's not really there.
> 
> thanks for reading!! comments and kudos are always appreciated <3
> 
> send me shit on my tumblr @ tested-inanotherlife.tumblr.com yo


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